Voting in Germany is “Fraud Free”

"Germany's election process is quite transparent," said Klaus Pötzsch of the electoral committee responsible for the organization and running of any federal or EU election in Germany. The committee is trying to make sure that nothing goes wrong. "For instance you could look at the situation in the polling stations. In each station we have eight to nine volunteers helping out."

. . . Before polling stations open, the volunteers will check to ensure ballot boxes are indeed empty. During the election they'll make sure that everybody has an ID with them and can show the documents every citizen receives by mail proving that they are eligible to vote.

This is the opposite of Democratic Party efforts in the United States. Here in most states (not all) Democrats Party official oppose ID and poll watchers. Transparency and sunshine in the voting process are some of the best tools to stop fraud but are opposed by Democrat Party officials.

Manipulation of absentee ballots, which are growing in popularity among Germans, could be easier than election fraud at the ballot box. In cities, as many as 30 percent of voters prefer to cast the ballot by mail rather than heading down to the polling places in person.

A care-taker in an elderly home might be doing the voting for one of his patients, a husband or wife might tick the box for their spouse. In 2002, local elections in Dachau were rigged when more than 400 postal votes had been manipulated. The fraud only came to light because the 400 ballots had been filled out with the exact same ballpoint pen.

While this story is months old it is relevant now as many states are considering reforming their election laws. Those states would be advised to follow the German model on transparency and to share the German concern on absentee ballots.

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